Keshi drops 6 players, to axe 5 more

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Six players in the Eagles camp in Abuja have been sent back to their various club sides as the Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi gets set to name his final squad for the Nigeria/ Rwanda game billed for next Wednesday in Kigali.

The six players that were sent packing out of the 22 previously in camp are Henry Uche of Enyimba International, Heartland’s trio of Uche Oguchi, Kingsley Salami and Kabir Umar, Osasco Omoma of Sunshine Stars and Niger United’s Daniel Essien.

Having been declared surplus to requirement in the national team, the players might find their services required by their different club sides ahead of this weekend’s Nigeria Premier League games.

Future chanceKeshi however told the released players that might be recalled for the two upcoming friendlies being planned by the Nigeria Football Federation for the month of April.

The Eagles coach said it was a painful but necessary decision to drop the players.

“It was a painful decision, but it must be done for the sake of the nation and because we have our brothers coming from Europe, but it’s not to say the players are not good, they are very okay and we’ll call upon them soon again when we have friendlies lined up for the national team,” he said.

The players have since left camp for their various club sides and Keshi said he would continue to monitor them for discipline and how regularly they feature for their teams, as that would largely form the basis of their recall to the national team

Battle for shirtsMeanwhile, the 16 players left in camp have intensified the battle for shirts in the national camp, with no one showing signs of dropping out for the other despite the intensity that the coaching crew has introduced into the training sessions.

Five of those still in camp will also be dropped as th Big Boss has allocated only 11 slots to the home-based players in his team to face Rwanda